Wallabies ready to mix it up, says Mitchell

Australia wing Drew Mitchell is confident the Wallabies will have no problems adapting their game when they face England this weekend if conditions are against the fast-paced running game preferred by Robbie Deans’s men.

The Wallabies are widely regarded as having the best back division in world rugby at the moment.

But a scrum that conceded seven penalties in a 25-16 win over Wales last weekend and has long been regarded by many in the northern hemisphere as a weakness, has left many England fans to hope for wind, rain and an attritional forward battle at Twickenham this Saturday.

“At this level of footy you’ve got to be able to adapt,” Mitchell told reporters at the team hotel on Monday.

“We’ve played in cold, wet games before. The good teams are the ones that are able to adapt and hopefully we can do that if it’s raining.”

Fellow Wallaby wing James O’Connor, the 20-year-old ’golden boy’ of Australian rugby, added: “We are playing pretty expansive footy.

“The guys in the middle and up front, even though they aren’t winning the scrums, are going forward with the ball and giving us an opportunity out wide.

“I’m hoping for an expansive game on Saturday but it’ll definitely be physical.”

Australia and New Zealand’s quick handling approach during the Tri-Nations looked the way to play the game under a revised set of laws that favour the team in possession.

However, Mitchell said: “The Tri-Nations showed the game in a pretty expansive style but at the same time you’ve got to play the conditions as well.

“Everyone across the board, the mindset now is to attack, the team with the ball in hand is the team that is rewarded. If there was a gap between the northern and southern hemisphere, it’s not so evident now.”

England go into this match on the back of a 26-16 loss to New Zealand last weekend but having beaten Australia 21-20 when the teams last met in Sydney in June.

Australia arrived in Europe following a 26-24 Bledisloe Cup victory over the All Blacks in Hong Kong.

“They (England) — really took it to the All Blacks last weekend and we know what it means to do that, having just played them ourselves,” said Mitchell.

But having downplayed the potential impact of bad weather this weekend, Mitchell jokingly said a stiff breeze at Twickenham could trouble O’Connor, if not Australia’s tactics.

“James is more worried about how his hair is looking.”

Australia, who play English champions Leicester in a tour match on Tuesday, are due to name their Twickenham side on Thursday, 48 hours after England manager Martin Johnson is set to unveil his line-up.